Author's Note: In an attempt to not stray away from the original too much, I left the first two chapters in Nagisa's point of view and then switched over, just like last time. I'm glad this story is gathering some new fans XD, hoping to hear from some of the old readers too assuming you guys are still there.. So here it is Chapter 3 coming at you! Read, Review, Rejoice!
~oOo~
Chapter 3:
Her Jealousy
"Shino, welcome back."
Nagisa felt her heart jump as her auburn eyes met with his amber orbs. She felt her throat go dry and she stuttered something under her breath. His deep gaze had the near same effect on her Shizuma's did. Weird...
Shino was casually dressed in a black polo shirt and blue jeans, his light-green receptionist uniform shirt balled up and tucked away safely under his arm.
He stood there smiling as Tamao and Nagisa stared blankly at him for what felt like hours but couldn't have been more than a few seconds. They were almost hypnotized.
Shizuma, obviously discontented with what was happening, walked towards them as her smirk dropped into an unhappy frown. The slender arms that were once elegantly crossed right below her chest reached out and grabbed onto Nagisa's shoulder and gave her a gentle nudge to pull her out of her trance-like state. Nagisa looked up at Shizuma questioningly but all she received was a smile just before the girl slipped away and walked up to Shino, crossing her arms once again.
"I thought you said you were going to join Miyuki and I on the beach today. Where were you?"
"Well you see, I kinda had to work overtime because the person that comes in after me was... a little bit late."
"A little late?" she repeated, narrowing her beautiful eyes at him.
He nodded, scratching the back of his head as he gave a nervous chuckle. "Turns out that the person decided not to show up at all and I ended up working their entire shift."
Shizuma sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. "Shino, you need to learn to put your foot down sometimes."
"I know. But look on the bright side!" he beamed. "I got tomorrow off with pay!"
"Well at least it wasn't a total lost." Shizuma rolled her eyes.
"You wouldn't understand until you start working." Shino breathed with a playful smile to which Shizuma scoffed. "But hey, since I won't be going in to work tomorrow, maybe we could all have a beach day! That is, if you want to of course."
Shizuma turned to the side, tapping her chin in fake thought as she hummed to herself.
Nagisa looked from Shino to Shizuma and then back at Shino again, absolutely puzzled by the scene in front of her. Shizuma... getting along so well with a guy! No, even more so, they seemed very close.
What is he to Shizuma anyway? No. Shizuma wouldn't... would she? Then again...
So many thoughts and possibilities buzzed around the girl's head, she got dizzy just trying to keep track of them all. It took a pair of fingers snapping in front of her eyes to break down her train of thought.
"Huh, w-what?" she stuttered, still a little dazed from her own thoughts.
Shizuma giggled at the sight of the flustered younger girl before repeating herself. "I asked if you would like to go to the beach again tomorrow."
Nagisa looked up at Shizuma and then over at Shino who was looking at her with puppy-dog eyes, practically pleading with her to say yes. She had to admit, she was a little excited about the prospect of going back, what with their first beach day turning out the way it did. She was far more excited than she would ever admit though, barely even able to stop herself from bouncing.
"Tamao, what do you think?" she asked her friend for some input instead.
The blunette tilted her head thoughtfully before answering, "Well, I guess that's okay." It's not like she could bring herself to say no when Nagisa was acting like that.
Nagisa let out a squeal of joy as she jumped up in total excitement. Shizuma carefully watched her girlfriend with a smirk on her face. It was painfully obvious that Shizuma was just staring at the subtle bounce of the cherry-head's chest though as she whispered under her breath, marvelous.
She was distracted when she saw a figure emerge from the hallway and seemed somewhat disappointed with it. "Miyuki, you're still up?"
"Of course I am." she replied matter-of-factly, though the yawn she stifled right after seemed to work against her. "I wouldn't trust you with placing them in their room Shizuma."
Shizuma gave an exaggerated gasp. "Just what kind of pervert do you take me for Miyuki? I'm hurt and offended by your accusations."
Shino chuckled at the girls' antics, walking further into the house as he finally allowed the front door to close behind him. He continued down the hallway, waving back at the girls. "I'm gonna go take a bath, I'm probably all sweaty from that double shift." He sniffed at his under arm and pulled away, fanning his nose jokingly.
Shizuma looked down at Nagisa who was staring at Shino blankly, again. "Wait for me, I'll join you!" she offered, much to Nagisa's distress.
Just before going off after Shino, the silver-haired girl wrapped her arms around Nagisa's shoulders. She smirked and lightly but discreetly, bit down on the tip of the younger girl's ear, provoking a deliciously small whimper from the girl's throat. She whispered sensually into the throbbing ear, "Just think about me tonight." She released Nagisa slowly, grinning when the girl nearly collapsed at the knees. After steadying Nagisa to her feet, Shizuma strolled towards Shino, patiently awaiting her in the hall.
Despite what Shizuma had just done, Nagisa was still worried. A small bite on the ear was nothing compared to sharing a bath with someone. What could they be doing? Nagisa ended up chewing on her lip subconsciously. She had to know! So with determination burning bright in her eyes, she turned towards with Miyuki in hopes of getting some answers.
"Rokujou-san! What is Shizuma's relationship with Shino?"
Miyuki seemed confused as she furrowed her brows. "You mean Shizuma hasn't told you yet? I figured she would have said something by now."
Nagisa shook her head, a little worried with the tone in the older girl's voice. "She just said it was a secret."
Miyuki sighed. She turned away for a second and rubbed her temples, inwardly cursing her friend for inadvertently putting her in this kind of situation, and then turned back towards Nagisa, being met with pleading eyes as big as saucers. "Look, I promised Shizuma I wouldn't tell you before she did. Sorry."
Disappointed, Nagisa slumped over, Tamao immediately moving in to console her by rubbing her shoulders. Miyuki gestured towards the hallway, "Come on, let me show you to your room."
Miyuki guided them to the second door on the left of the long hallway. She opened the door to reveal a huge, not too far from luxurious room. The walls were painted a pure white and topped with an elegant emerald trim. There were two queen sized beds on either sides of the room, both having the same design, silk white bed sheets with a transparent silver veil hanging over the edges facing inwardly to the room. The bedstead was made of some sort of wood, but it had a similar sparkle to gold. Separating the two beds was a black bureau. Behind it was a window that gave the most gorgeous view of the beach.
In the corner, there was a fold door that opened to a closet large enough to fit every bit of clothes Nagisa ever owned three times over and still have space for more. Another door connected the room to a half bathroom, a sparkling paradise with as much space as the average adult bedroom.
Despite the fact that it was night, everything glimmered in luxury and elegance, right down to the marble floors they walked on. Tamao spun in joy and wonder, claiming the bed to the left of the room as she fell into its soft embrace. "Such extravagance, as expected of the Hanazono family." It was hard to interpret with her tone whether that was a compliment or not.
Not that Nagisa wasn't completely taken by this room, she was still puzzled about something. "Don't guests usually stay in a guest room or something?"
Miyuki matched her expression before stifling a chuckle into her fist. "This is the guest bedroom. Shizuma was a little apprehensive at first since she wasn't sure if you'd like the décor." she explained.
Nagisa shrieked, if only out of sheer surprise. Even Tamao was eyeing Miyuki incredulously. "Isn't this a little much, even for the Hanazono family?"
"Not at all. This is actually their smallest vacation home. It's the only one Shizuma's parents would lend us."
"If you ask me, they were just overreacting." Shizuma complained as she entered from the doorway, Shino not too far in tow.
"Shizuma, your bath." was all that slipped out from Nagisa's mouth.
"The water's running." Shino pointed out as he posted himself against the wall next to the door. His expression was playful. "Do you mind if we join in the conversation?"
Just like that, everyone was gathered in the guest room, girls sitting around the bed Tamao had claimed for her own and Shino leaning against the wall not too far away. They were all talking and laughing.
"Can you believe that Miyuki here dragged me all the way to her parents' house to help her cancel the engagement they set up?"
"Shizuma!" the girl attempted to hide her embarrassment but ultimately ended up failing as she yelled, "That's not something you just slip into conversations!"
Ignoring Miyuki's protests, Shizuma continued with a giggle. "Right after graduation too! She was too scared to go on her own. The whole way there she was getting all worked up about what she would say and practicing all kinds of counter arguments like we were heading to a school debate or something!"
"God, Shizuma! Do you have to tell them everything like that?"
"Then we get there, only to find out that her parents changed their mind about the guy and were relieved to find out that she didn't want to marry him." Shizuma laughed. "She ended up getting engaged to one of my brothers instead."
Nagisa and Tamao were holding their stomachs where they were giggling so hard while Shino on the other hand, only snickered a bit. Miyuki, her face a bright red, hid her embarrassment behind a pillow and let out a long, annoyed groan, causing Shizuma to snicker wickedly.
Despite all the merriment, Nagisa still had one thing on her mind, finding out about Shizuma and Shino's relationship. She carefully waited as the two left the room, finally remembering their running bath water. A few seconds after they left, Miyuki announced that she was going to rest up for the night and left as well. It was now or never. Nagisa attempted to sneak out of the room while Tamao was in the bathroom, but after she looked left and right to scan the hall, she was barely able to take two steps before she heard Tamao's voice call out to her. "Where are you going Nagisa-chan?"
Stumbling a bit out of surprise, the flustered red head attempted to piece together a believable lie. "Tamao! You see... I was just on my way to... to the... kitchen! Yea, the kitchen."
Tamao was utterly confused by the way Nagisa was acting. "It's so late, what could you possibly want out of the kitchen? Don't tell me you were planning to sneak some cake before bed because I told how bad that was for your health before."
Nagisa gave a nervous laugh as she shook her head. "Just need a glass of water!" she was surprised at how easily that came out.
Tamao tilted her head in thought, Nagisa breaking into a sweat the longer Tamao looked over her. "Well, while you're at it, can you bring me a glass too?" Nagisa jumped, surprised that the lie actually worked!
"Sure thing!" Before anyone could say another word Nagisa bolted down the hall, searching for the door her girlfriend was behind. About ten minutes in, Nagisa realized how much she had underestimated the sheer size of the house. She pressed her ear against every door she passed and peaked into every open room, but Shizuma was nowhere to be heard or found. Meanwhile, Nagisa did come across some very strange rooms with odd designs. Some that she wasn't sure how to describe. One in particular that tattooed itself to her memory had both chains and swings hanging from the ceiling, a pair of handcuffs left visibly seated on the King sized mattress which had a bouquet of candles flanking both sides. 'A... torture chamber...?' Nagisa attempted to make sense of what she just saw before deciding it was better to pretend she never saw that.
Eventually, when she somehow stumbled into the kitchen for real, Nagisa decided to give up on her search and get that glass of water after all. As she swallowed the cool contents of the glass she poured herself, her ears picked up some chatting in the distance and she quickly rested her glass on the counter. She could barely distinguish Shizuma's voice among the two, so she could only assume the other was Shino.
Nagisa entered the hallway discreetly, catching sight of the two just as they turned the corner, happily walking with linked arms. Nagisa moved quickly to catch up to them, but she almost blew her cover as she was about to turn the corner after them but realized they were standing just a few steps away from there, along with Miyuki, as they all stood chatting in the hallway. After a few seconds of talking, Miyuki headed into a room on the left hand side of the hallway while Shizuma and Shino walked into the room just adjacent to it. At that moment, Nagisa felt her heart drop as her silver-haired goddess entered a bedroom with an admittedly handsome young man. Nagisa shook her head, barely able to believe her own eyes, and headed back to her room feeling completely defeated for some reason.
Wait, I should be able to trust Shizuma.
But I know her so well that I feel like I can't trust her with these things. She was the Casanova girl of Astraea Hill. Wait, am I actually getting JEALOUS?
Nagisa tossed herself onto her bed as Tamao looked over her with concerned eyes. "Nagisa, my water?"
"What water?"
